St. Landry democrat., 1887-06-04

| uuCu Ike tlldt VI SlAty -tHIec years dEo
when the wealth and fashion and thu
gamins of the day packed the theatre a
seven o'clock in the evening. There i
was that the Wallack seed was planted
and there it received its first American
impetus doing well until Mr.. WALLACE
returned to England Meantime Leste,
Wallack, then known as John Lester
had t1eshed his maiden sword in the Eng
lish provinces, and had become very
decided favorite in roles of the
jeune premier and romantic schools
In 1910 he was induced to come
to New York by Manager Barrett
who was an envoy of Colonel Mann, ther
erecting theatre at the corner of Broad
way and Anthony street, and in that
house his debut was made as Sir Charles
Coldstream in Used Up After this
receiving tempting offer from Mr.
Hamblin, Of the Bowery Theatre, whose
aim it then was to attract the fashionable
| people to that portion of the city, he
| made an engagement with him. Scon
after these successes Mr.. William E. Bur.
ton offered Mr. Lester (Wallack) an en-.
gagement, which he accepted, and there
laid the foundation of the good fortune
that has since waited upon him in the
presentation of the old English comedies
Among the company were William Rufus
Blake, Mrs. John Hoey (then Mrs. Rus
selD, Mary Taylor, the present Mrs.
Charles Matthews then Miss Weston)
and Henry Placide.
Manager Hamblin produced in 1850 the
play of Henry "" with this cast:
H Halstpfr James " !9 @al sa1oe IT:
Nf,,xl De-, ~ r @1Ar To1lo o1yN
Lady Percy Mrs. J. w. Wallack, Jr.
Dame Quickly ................M Mrs. John Gilbert.
This and other notable performances
were given in the Old Bowery Theatre,
but that was not destined to be the home
of the Wallacks long. In 1852 J. W.
Wallack leased Brougham's Lyceum, cor
ner of Broadway and Broome street.
Old theatre-goers do not need to be
reminded of the treats they then and there
enjoyed with J. w. Wallack, John Lester
and W. Rufus Blake in the forefront.
The names should be preserved.
They form an illustrious galaxy in
which the young man" Lester shone con-
spicuously, partly because he was natur-
ally bright, particular star and partly be-
cause he studied harder than seminary
of theologians and worked more indus
tiiouoiy tudl COlOif VI 1to1iaii otiCCt-
sweepers. The actors in Wallack's
Walcot J. Brougham, c. K. Mason,
Seguin, Hale, Choppendale, Dyott, A. W.
Young, Lysander Thompson, Stewart
(Sothern), H. Bland, J. H. stoddart, H.
Placide, George Holland, Harry Hall,
Peters, J. G. Burnett, ]. H. Davenport,
Sam Sloan, c. Parsloe, Sr. T. B. John
son, c. Wheatleigh, Floyd, Mrs. Buck
land, Mrs. Blake, Mrs. Brougham, Miss
Julia Gould, Mrs. Stephens, Miss NAL
vino, Mrs. Florence, Miss Laura Keene,
Mrs. Cramer, Mrs. Hale, Mrs. Conway,
Mrs. Hoey, Mrs. Stewart (Sothern), Mrs.
L. Thompson, Miss c. Thompson, Miss
Rosa Bennett, Mrs. Vernon, Miss Cannon,
Miss Kate Saxton, Miss Georgina Hold
son, Mrs. Allen, Mrs. John Wood, Mrs.
J. W. Wallack, Jr, Miss Mary Shaw,
Mrs. Floyd, Mrs. Sloan and Miss Made
line Henriques. Nearly all of these are
dead, but before they went they gave the
public good reason to respect their talent
and.remember their acting. Mr.. Lester
made pronounced hits in pauline"
The Veteran" and the English come
dies, so that when the race of the old
house was run and a new one-far up
town-was to be opened in 1861, his
father. with pardonable pride, begged
him to resume his family name and in
augurate the fresh establishment with a
second Wallack on the bills
The Thirteenth-street house is the
theatre best known to the present gene
ration of playgoers, and here it is that
the name of Wallack won its proudest
laurels, and to all intents and purposes
Lester Wallack, with Theodore Moss as
his firm right hand in the BUSH ess de-
partment, was from the first head and
front of the theatre, as he since remained
In 1868 phenomenal success perched
IN the Wallack banner.
Lester Wallack produced an original
comedy entitled 'Rosedale," in which to
carry out point he had made in an argu-
nent as to its feasibility with Mr. Thack- |
cray, the hero is forty, the sweetheart
thirty, and other characters of equal age |
Mr.. Wallack played the lover, and the !
play ran the then extraordinary period !
If 100 nights, netting the management |
300, 900. Being himself an actor, he I'M
lerstands the childishness that charac-
eriZes many of the best men on the stage,
md appreciates their whims, caprices and
as no mere speculative man
ger could be expected to.
Among the names added to the Wal
ack roll of honor since the foregoing
vas recorded in the history of the first
louse are those of Charles Fisher, John
SETON, Mark Smith, John Gilbert, James
williamson, ]. W. Wallack, Jr., E. L.
Davenport, Holston, Frederic Robinson,
/. B. Polk, J. H. Stoddart, Owen Mar
DIV, George Clarke, Charles Matthews,
'eorge Boniface, Harry Beckett, E. NJ.
Iolland, Arnott, Plympton, H. j. Mon
ague, Boucicault in "Shaughraun,'
'harles Stevenson, Steele Mackaye,
harles Coghlan, Charles Barron, Harry
'dwards, Barrymore, Gerald Eyre, Os-
lond Tearle, William Elton, Harry Pitt,
liss Morant, Mrs. John Stetson, Miss
one Burke, Mrs. Clara Jennings, Miss
Jose Eytinge, Miss Mestayer, Miss Effie
ermon, Mrs. Thomas Barry, Mrs. Helen :
racy, Miss Katherine Rogers, Miss Rose
oghlan, Nine. Ponisi, Miss Jeffreys-
evils, Miss Ada Dyas, Miss Rose Wood.
[iss Boniface, Miss Maud Granger and
[iss Adelaide Detchon.
1t would be impossible, without ex-
eeding the limits of the present sketch, {
} recapitulate the great successes of I
ester Wallack in the theatre then r
shionable and now turned over to other